Destination Tomorrow will open a new community center in Melrose.

Destination Tomorrow, a trans-organization centered on Third Avenue in Mott Haven, has announced plans to construct an LGBTQ Center at the same location this year. The Bronx is the only one of the five boroughs currently without an all-encompassing LGBTQ service hub.

Destination Tomorrow says that the new center will provide health and human services, workforce development, educational and vocational training, and arts and cultural programming.  

In a statement, the organization said it will “work to end homophobia and transphobia, provide a home, safe space, and holistic service model for the Bronx LGBTQ community, and to advocate for equality.”

Destination Tomorrow’s executive director Sean Coleman said in a statement that the group “has consistently provided evidence-based programs and wrap around services to the Bronx LGBTQ community. After significant planning, listening to input from our community throughout the entire borough, and building relationships with funders, the business community, and fellow LGBTQ service providers, we decided the new center was not a want, but rather a need – and Destination Tomorrow is fully equipped to fill that need by providing services to our community from a brick and mortar LGBTQ Center.”

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. has committed to supporting LGBT initiatives in the borough, with $600,000 to the SAGE Center Bronx and $100,000 to the Melrose-based Callen-Lorde clinic.

Over the next three months Destination Tomorrow will release its strategic plan, expand the base of its Board of Directors, and work to identify appropriate staffing to accommodate growth into the Bronx center.  In tandem, construction of the LGBTQ Center will launch in the second quarter of 2018.

About Post Author